


A Kind Word

by LiteWrite



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Dogmeat makes a cameo like some kind of marvel movie, Gen, Male Sould Survivor's name is Ripley (yeah from Aliens), character analysis a bit, everything is platonic unless you see it differentely, just need some love in this game darn it, short and sweet, short but schweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 09:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9650096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteWrite/pseuds/LiteWrite
Summary: It's a hard world out there for the Soul Survivor and sometimes he needs more than just a fast gun and someone to cover his six. He needs a little compassion from the people he keeps close.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! If you are reading this thanks so much and I hope you enjoy it! This idea came to me after a Fallout 4 binge-play and I wrote it at like midnight because I needed some cute Soul Survivor/Companion fluff! It means a lot to me that you took the time to read this and I appreciate every comment, kudos, or set of eyes that looked at this! Thanks BYE!

Ripley wasn’t going to lie and say that looking for his son was any easier than losing him in the first place. The possibility that he might have lose his son forever, whether to the Institute, old age, or something shadier, haunted his tortured mind day and night and put pits of black under both his eyes. Piper was a great help, really. She always had his back without him having to ask and never took it personally when he had to leave her behind for a bit. Not counting the interview he gave her, she also didn’t pry too much into his past or try to dredge up the bad memories he kept carefully concealed. She only wanted to do what was right. See, that right there is what has been bothering him so much. Piper saw the world in clear stains of black or white, so to her this finding his son mission was nothing more than another attempt to right the wrongs the Institute had caused and the suffering it had inflicted on people. She couldn’t see that to him, it was so much more than that. No matter what the Institute might have done to the people of Diamond City in the past, his mission was a purely personal one. It was more than just trying to do some good in a fucked up world, Ripley was trying to get some closure and maybe a little vengeance for his family that had been ripped apart so many years ago. Sure, helping Diamond City was a nice bonus, but that’s not the reason he tore his way out of the ground and trekked across miles of radioactive waste. Piper couldn’t understand what he was going through and what this meant to him, so of course she had no idea how emotionally overwhelmed he felt right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

He and Nick Valentine had just come back from shooting up a warehouse filled with a horrible monster and some synths. In a matter of minutes, he went from the elation of possibly finding his son after so long, to the despair of realizing he slipped from his grasp again, and finally to the pure terror he felt when he was told Shawn had been traded to the nightmarish Institute spoken of in trembling whispers. Ripley came back to regroup with Piper feeling as exhausted and drained as if he actually was over one hundred years old. Though he suffered silently and said nothing to either Piper or Nick, it must have still been apparent because after they made their plan Nick pulled him off to the side to speak to him privately.

His face may have been entirely metal, but Ripley could still see the compassion and concern that light up his yellow, robotic eyes.

“Listen, Ripley, I know how hard this must be for you to go around in circles looking for your son. I promise you that I will not stop until we find him and bring him back to you. I’ve been through a lot of missing person cases myself so don’t you ever feel like you have no one to talk to or understand your pain because you can always come to me.”

There it was. The comfort and reassurance he had no idea until now that he craved with an unspoken hunger. Nick just gave him the drive to keep his courage and determination up despite these trying times even before he himself had realized he was starting to run on empty. He understood the pain and misery that Ripley was feeling and was empathizing with him in a way that no one else had tried or realized he needed. Ripley felt his heart swell with gratitude for Nicks’ thoughtfulness. He wanted to tell his how much he appreciated his sentiments and companionship, however, his mind was still so awe-struck that he only managed to squeak out a shaky and not so eloquent, “thank you,” along with an awkward shoulder pat. From the small smile that shifted across Nick’s face though, Ripley had the feeling he understood what he meant even if he hadn’t been able to say it. As Nick moved away, Ripley thought about how lucky he was to have found the few people in this world still kind enough to go out of their way to help a stranger. Sure, they each had their respective strengths and faults* (there was a reason he brought Piper along for brute strength missions instead of Nick and why Nick’s kind words immediately killed any silent complaints he may have had about him), but he had even more of them and in the end he was just glad he even found one person willing to stay by his side and go through hell with him.

 

*Except for Dogmeat. He was perfect.


End file.
